In the world of corporate communications, the technical knowledge of marketers and public relations professionals is often derided, with colleagues in different business functions “expressing a view” or trying to “dabble” in these commercial functions.
In PR, technical knowledge is critical for a great many reasons. One of the most important is understanding the raison d’être of a title. This is particularly the case with B2B titles.
At its most basic levels, you need to understand the commercial driver of the title.
Paid subscription titles – that is brands that earn a commercial income from paying readers – typically have more aggressive editorial approaches to news or investigations and will also be very guarded about their editorial agenda.
Non paid subscription titles, by comparison, will likely aim to build their audience through regular, relevant content that supports their reader community. They make their money through advertising, sponsorship, events and ancillary products.
Financial Promoter falls into the latter category. It exists to educate, inform and entertain the marketing community across all financial services sectors, whether in retail or institutional finance.
As a former journalist, I spent my career writing for a blend of titles, some subscription and some not. My former managers definitely urged me to be more aggressive in my news gathering at employers where subscriptions were paid for.
In financial sectors where the market is dominated by paid subscription titles, there is naturally more suspicion and apprehension when titles offer to collaborate with industry participants.
But Financial Promoter exists to fill that gap. We were launched to offer a place for marketers to share ideas, approaches and their best work. It is a coming together of peer groups.
Our events, awards, website and magazine have gone some way to offering clarity on what we are trying
to achieve, but there remain some segments where marketers remain nervous about the benefits of getting involved. But those who have engaged have benefited from peer group outreach, commercial expansion
and sometimes, even new jobs!
I’ve launched enough titles in my career to know that this process takes time. There will always be some parts
of the market that need to watch what a title does before they begin to engage.
For those who are nervous about taking the initial steps to interact with journalists at a title, I offer this advice…
Ask your colleagues responsible for public relations to research the title. Do they know the journalists? Do they understand the commercial model and do they understand the pertinent themes which are likely to resonate.
To get the most of out media interactions – including those with Financial Promoter – it’s important that you know how to match your key messages with the topics that the title are going to find interesting. And let’s be clear. Titles are commercial entities, irrespective of their subscription model.
Collaborative ecosystems and partnerships require that we all spend some time to understand how to help one another.
For some B2B titles, that may look like off-the-record chats, briefing off the record about your peers. But that’s not our model.
At Financial Promoter, we exist to champion great marketing. To promote those businesses that we understand and to grow marketing budgets for everyone. But we can only do that we understand your businesses too.
So, I urge those of you who are still apprehensive about talking to the media to speak to your experts in PR and better understand the opportunities that exist. You might be surprised at what it delivers.
Joe McGrath is the founder and CEO of Rhotic Media